NOVEMBER 2024

[Carlos]

Hi, @Too Many Plants! , typical stalks and flowers if D. numidica

The species was transferred to Drimia in 2004 but first described in 1868 in genus Squilla. The chronology is:

Squilla numidica Jord. & Fourr. in Icon. Fl. Eur. 2: 1 (1868)

Urginea numidica (Jord. & Fourr.) Grey in Hardy Bulbs 2: 632 (1938)

Urginea maritima var. numidica (Jord. & Fourr.) Maire & Weiller in Fl. Afrique N. 5: 164 (1958)

Charybdis numidica (Jord. & Fourr.) Speta in Phyton (Horn) 38: 60 (1998)

D. numidica is a huge plant, with bulbs (with all tunics) reaching a small melon's size, with coriaceous brick-red tunics and a scape reaching 1,70 m. The flowers are numerous, about 1 cm wide and nearly white, sometimes with a faintly coloured midvein. The seeds are almost 1 cm long. It is a tetraploid (2n=40)

D maritima is smaller and has whitish to brownish, more papery outer tunics. The flowers are bigger, less numerous and with a well marked reddish-brown midvein. It is a hexaploid (2n=60)

[Too Many Plants!]

Hi, @Too Many Plants! , typical stalks and flowers if D. numidica

The species was transferred to Drimia in 2004 but first described in 1868 in genus Squilla. The chronology is:

Squilla numidica Jord. & Fourr. in Icon. Fl. Eur. 2: 1 (1868)

Urginea numidica (Jord. & Fourr.) Grey in Hardy Bulbs 2: 632 (1938)

Urginea maritima var. numidica (Jord. & Fourr.) Maire & Weiller in Fl. Afrique N. 5: 164 (1958)

Charybdis numidica (Jord. & Fourr.) Speta in Phyton (Horn) 38: 60 (1998)

D. numidica is a huge plant, with bulbs (with all tunics) reaching a small melon's size, with coriaceous brick-red tunics and a scape reaching 1,70 m. The flowers are numerous, about 1 cm wide and nearly white, sometimes with a faintly coloured midvein. The seeds are almost 1 cm long. It is a tetraploid (2n=40)

D maritima is smaller and has whitish to brownish, more papery outer tunics. The flowers are bigger, less numerous and with a well marked reddish-brown midvein. It is a hexaploid (2n=60)

Thanks for that thorough explanation, @Carlos! Appreciate the time and effort you put into that. Maybe @David Pilling can incorporate some of that info into his Wiki...

[Too Many Plants!]

Flower pic added...of same bulb from August 2021 when the bulb was much smaller and only two headed.

What is the interesting plant in the watering basin behind the Drimia's inflorescence?

Hi Ron, that is a cycad. Encephalartos Gratus. Unfortunately, I need to move it. It's in too much sun. Always looks great like that for a while, but eventually, it gets yellow-looking by the time we get to winter. Then the wind takes its toll beating it up further. It needs a spot with some afternoon shade and some protection from heavier winds (which I'm in VERY short supply of)!